Fort IV named after Stanislaw Zolkiewski in Torun - a standard artillery fort located in Torun on Chrobry Street. In the past it bore the No. II and the name Yorck after the namesake.and Prussian Field Marshal von Wartenburg. Since the liberation of Toruń in 1920 it has been named after Stanislaw Zolkiewski. Built in 1878-1884 of concrete and brick on a pentagonal plan, it was part of the city's northeastern defense line, in particular protecting the Toruń-Mokre and Toruń-North railroad stations. Erected according to the latest principles of artillery art, it could withstand a six-month siege, and was designed for a crew of two companies of infantry and artillery station personnel (a total of about eight hundred people), housed in 31 living quarters. There were 14 medium-caliber guns and, at various times, from 15 to 22 heavy-caliber guns located in two wing batteries together with shelters for their service. Fire from the fort's cannons could reach the vicinity of Papowo Toruńskie and today's Grębocin district - however, the facility never fulfilled its military tasks. A traditor and 9 infantry shelters have been preserved in the fort. In recent years, two observation posts (infantry and artillery) with rotating towers have been revitalized. Fort IV, one of the most modern in the Torun fortress, was the only one to have additional external walling of the outer caponier and moat, while access to it was defended by an iron drawbridge leading to the main entrance gate. In the 1890s and between 1911 and 1914 it underwent additional modernization: some of the windows in the living quarters and all the window openings in the two technical rooms were bricked up, while the rest were fitted with armored shutters. The whole building was surrounded by barbed wire.
Michal - 12.08.2008
